3.5

I love reading about things I know nothing about and I enjoyed this book from Jess Phoenix (who I follow on Twitter) but something was missing here but I'm not quite sure what. Did I want a little more science? Maybe Did I just want more photos? Maybe?

I mean there were encounters with bad guys, lava flows, eruptions, wacky stunts done for crazy TV people, a visit to The Explorer's Club to name a few so I'm not sure what I needed. I think part of her message is science is important but it also involves a lot of boring minutia and hours and hours of data analysis and it's NOT all exploding lava bombs.

So anyway, it's good and quite interesting but I don't find myself gushing about it and trying to convince everybody to read it in the way I was hoping to feel after finishing.


( )

Unbearable. Dropped while into the second chapter. Borderline graphomania. Plus way too many Is. Not the next 'Lab Girl' obviously.

I enjoyed this. It was extremely readable and a good mix of personal and scientific. I would recommend this to students looking for inspiration about science careers. Thanks to Timber Press for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

Interesting, well-written...And disappointing. It fails the Chekhov's Gun rule. The first chapter is about her joining the Explorers Club, on the basis of her volcano work and Blueprint Earth, which she co-founded. She mentions unequal access to science, for women and POC; Blueprint Earth was supposed to be a step in improving that. Sounded interesting. And then...nothing. The rest of the book, while interesting and enjoyable, never talks about Blueprint Earth at all. Hmph! Her expeditions are fascinating, and I learned some new things - but did she ever go on an expedition without a disaster? She seems to severely injure herself on or just prior to most of her expeditions. In fact, I felt like the book had the same problem as the Discovery Channel expedition - just doing her work, discovering amazing things about volcanos, wasn't interesting enough; she had to write about disasters and difficulties. I'd rather have read more about the expeditions that didn't go wrong. And the book ends with her being triggered to run for Congress...without mentioning the result (she lost, badly - I Googled it). Which makes it a very limp and pointless ending. That's where the Blueprint Earth details should have gone. So - interesting, very well-written, disappointing. I hope she writes more, and stops trying to make it "exciting" - her everyday work is plenty exciting! ( )

An enjoyable look into the science of volcanoes and geology. The author had me in the beginning, with her description of her invitation to the Explorer's Club in New York City. What a dream that would be! Phoenix continues with her experiences in Hawaii, Mexico, and many other places. She definitely seems to lead an exciting life. And I got the feeling that she is a very personable and interesting person to know. I wish her luck in the continuation of her career. ( )